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A whole week of failed sourdough finally made me respect the cold bulk ferment
I used to think you had to let sourdough rise at room temp no matter what. Then last month I had seven straight days where my loaves came out flat and gummy. I was about to toss my starter in the trash. A baker at the farmers market in Eugene told me to try sticking the dough in the fridge for 18 hours instead of 2 on the counter. First try came out with the best oven spring I've ever gotten. Now I keep my dough in the fridge for most of the bulk ferment and only let it warm up for shaping. Has anyone else found that cold retarding fixes more problems than it causes?
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rowan_thomas843d ago
Wait, you had seven straight days of flat loaves too? I was ready to throw in the towel after five days of gummy, frisbee shaped sourdough last fall. A buddy from a baking class told me to try the fridge for a full 20 hours and it totally fixed my crumb structure. Now I do the same thing, cold bulk ferment for most of the rise and it gives me way better oven spring than any counter method I ever tried.
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the_harper3d ago
Seven days of frisbee loaves sounds like a personal challenge from the bread gods to test your sanity (and patience). I'm convinced there's a secret sourdough rule that you have to hit rock bottom before the fridge method saves you. Glad we both found the cold cure before throwing our starters into the trash.
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